


Colors

by miss_aligned



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Mass Effect 1, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-07
Updated: 2016-08-07
Packaged: 2018-08-07 05:17:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7702204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miss_aligned/pseuds/miss_aligned
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The odd mission on Eletania has Shepard experiencing visions of primitive humans, but the other teammates are nearby and unaware. It's the perfect time to mock her driving skills and poke fun at a certain lieutenant!</p>
            </blockquote>





	Colors

“There’s no way I just imagined that noise,” Kaidan said as his boots touched solid ground, having just hopped out of the Mako to get a better look at whatever damage might have been caused.

“Well, this thing doesn’t much like being upside-down. Or thrown down a mountain,” Garrus responded, checking one last seal on his suit to be sure that all was well.

“I can’t say I do either,” Kaidan answered with a chuckle. He surveyed the underside of the vehicle slowly, though there was no telling from where that knocking noise had come.

Garrus glanced off to the side to see Shepard casually meandering away, following a blip on the map via her omni-tool. She didn’t seem to mind at all that she’d probably crippled a very expensive piece of machinery with her driving insanity. He shook his head.

“You’re taking this pretty well,” the turian commented, running his hand along the underside of the Mako where he’d known one of the more exposed electrical panels was mounted. No obvious damage there.

“I would have thought that the general mockery and crew nausea would have been pretty clear indicators that she needed to tone it down, but I think she forgets once she gets behind the controls. I can’t really change that, so I guess I just have to deal.” He crept fully under the vehicle for a closer look.

“All things considered, I’m not sure that’s something that should be changed about her. Even though the ride is terrifying, the maniacal joy she gets from driving is probably something of a stress reliever. Everyone needs an outlet. Hell, she’d probably change a lot about me, given the chance.”

“Like what?” Kaidan asked, reaching for the toolkit that the pair had brought out just in case.

“She and I have different views on solutions to some problems, I guess you could say. Vengeance is a thing for me. Not so much for her. She thinks it’s unhealthy. I happen to think it’s unhealthy only for the target.”

The sound of metal scraping on metal mingled with the amused chuckle Kaidan offered. He reached for more tools.

“I’d be better off following her lead, I suppose. She bends the rules, gets things done, and everyone loves her for it. Well, most everyone who is worth a damn, anyway. I guess I wouldn’t change anything about her.”

“Me, either.”

“Well,” Garrus reconsidered. “Maybe that thing that she does… the, uhh, changing colors. I might vote for that one. It’s creepy.”

There was a distinct pause in the prying and banging happening under the Mako. “What?”

“I mean, maybe it’s a human thing. I think asari might do it, too, but it looks different. It happens so fast, I don’t know how you manage it.”

Kaidan’s head popped out from underneath the vehicle. Though the helmet masked his expression, Garrus could hear the confusion in his voice. “What are you talking about?”

Garrus crossed his arms and considered the question. It hadn’t been a figment of his imagination, had it? No, now that he thought about it, this color-changing phenomenon happened most often with Shepard and Kaidan.

“Hmm. Like when Shepard gets really crazy, we tumble down a cliff and you land in her lap. Her face… it turns pink.”

Kaidan froze. “Oh.”

“Or when you’re checking her over after a mission in the med bay and we’ve been in a bad firefight.”

“Uh-huh.”

“It happens when you’re not around, too. If you’ve got a headache and someone asks Shepard if she’s checked in on you, she’s still pink. Strange.”

“I, uh…” Kaidan scrambled back under the Mako and hastily got back to work with the repairs, though it did sound a bit like he was fumbling to use the tools. “I get it. Never noticed it myself, but we call that… blushing. It’s just… a reaction caused by increased blood flow.”

“Oh?” Garrus hummed as he considered the term. “I thought at first it was some sort of mating ritual thing, but I’m not sure. It happens when she gets angry, too. I don’t think she wants to mate with the Council… does she?”

“God, I hope not,” came Kaidan’s amused response.

“Well, maybe she’s just eternally angry at you, then,” the turian mused. He didn’t think that was truly the case, since most people who made Shepard mad tended to have a drastically shortened lifespan in her presence.

“I really hope not,” the lieutenant laughed as he tossed a mangled piece of metal out from under the Mako. “Well, that repair should at least get us back to the Normandy.”

A bright flash of white light caused Garrus to jump, instinctively yanking his rifle off of his back. It had come from the direction in which Shepard had wandered.

“What was that?” Kaidan hastily scrambled out from under the vehicle and took off running after the commander without looking back or waiting for an answer to the question.

Garrus didn’t have one. He, too, bolted after her, calling out to her as they ran and receiving no response. Panic began to swell in his chest, though logic told him to remain calm or they might all be caught in some sort of awful situation. He needed to be cautious, aware. He needed to find Shepard and make sure she was safe.

It was a dark form lying on the ground near a shining, floating sphere that caught his attention next. She hadn’t moved far from the Mako, but it seemed that she’d been knocked out or worse, since she was on the ground and still. Kaidan reached her first, skidding to a stop on his knees at her side.

An omni-tool scan revealed nothing of note. She was still breathing, still thriving, but seemingly asleep on the ground. He’d come to understand that this was the sort of reaction that she had when she’d encountered prothean technology. As he cast his gaze at the floating orb, he could only assume that that was what had happened here. She’d been pushing her luck each time she survived it, and Dr. Chakwas had said she wasn’t sure just how much more of a prothean-based assault the commander’s mind could handle. All he could do was hope that this one hadn’t pushed her over the edge.

Kaidan took hold of her hand, likely preparing to haul her up and into his arms, when she suddenly stirred. Her entire body tensed for a moment before she turned her head and appeared to realize that the only people around were her teammates. He and Kaidan each offered a helping hand to haul her to her feet.

“Are you okay?” There was a certain degree of panic still in the lieutenant’s voice as he asked the question.

“I’m fine,” Shepard blearily answered. “Forget about it.”

Garrus sighed and shook his head as she stumbled back in the direction from which they’d come. Kaidan glanced at him for a moment, then looked back at her. He hurried forward and curled an arm around her waist to help steady her as they made their way back to the Mako.

Somehow, despite being unable to see it, he knew she was changing colors again.

Humans.


End file.
